On every June 21, the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, I remember this unforgettable line from Albert Camus: 'In the depth of Winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible Summer.' It's true that we often discover our true strength only during the most challenging phases of life. We must keep alive and rekindled that divine spark of Stregth that is always within us, invincible and indestructible, as we welcome Summer on June 21 every year.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

It's a misconception that Beauty is in the Eyes of beholder. In my view, Beauty must be in the Heart of beholder for her true appreciation.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

eye heart appreciation

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly lies to the bone. Beauty dies and fades away, but ugly holds its own! Create and cultivate Inner Beauty that never fades away but grows and matures with Time!

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

inner-beauty skins lying

Today, I am pleased to share the best knowledge and philosophy for life, from Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna. It is as follows: “The man who sees me in everything and everything within me will not be lost to me, nor will I ever be lost to him. He who is rooted in oneness realizes that I am in every being; wherever he goes, he remains in me. When he sees all being as equal in suffering or in joy because they are like himself, that man has grown perfect in yoga.”

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

All the time we hear "Love is Blind." But it's not true. Blind is the Infatuation, while Love is All-seeing and All-accepting amazing aspect of life. Love is Strong and Permanent vis-a-vis Infatuation that is Fragile and Transitory. In my view, Love is like Silk, which is delicate, gentle, illuminating and soft - and yet so strong that no force on earth can tear it apart easily. Love is accepting each other for good qualities as well as flaws, and for strengths as much as weaknesses. Love is working together through the challenges of life, and overcoming obstacles with Synergy. I would summarize Love in three T's: Trust, Transparency and Teamwork.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

There is a commonality between Beauty, Fame and Power. They all are fickle, and often described as faithless, flighty and frivolous. They are warm and gentle, when they enable you to soar high. They are cold and brutal, when they drop you from the greatest heights without any warning. They often trip you up when you are least expecting it. Fools get mesmerized by their magic, while Wise manage them smartly by keeping their feet firmly on the ground. Be Wise, and never get swayed by the hypnotic charms of Beauty, Fame and Power.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry I could not travel either of those. Neither the one less traveled by. Nor the one most traveled by. Instead, I created my own road. The road to follow my Dreams. After all, any road is only a road. Until you make something of it. Like Life is full of millions of choices. And yet Life is also what you make of it. Every learning I gained in my journey. Left the leaves trodden black. And now I reminisce with a sigh. Somewhere ages and ages hence. Down magical memory lane. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And I, I created my own road. To follow my own dreams. And that's what must've made all the difference. Life goes on! La Vie Continue!

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

About 140+ years ago, on May 20, 1873, the U.S. patent 139,121 covering the invention of 'Jeans' was issued to two American inventors, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss. Most of the inventors, even today, secretly wish that they had invented Jeans, because of the beauty and grace, coupled with simplicity and comfort, that blue Jeans have created in our world. I love wearing Jeans as casual wear during the weekends. I also think that whenever a celebrity or a beauty or a genius wears jeans, it always makes the most impactful fashion statement.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Oh how smoothly, how swiftly and horribly, how cruelly and thoroughly, one discovers the powers and prowess of Maya, the Supreme power of Illusions! With a simple sleight of her hand, léger de main, everything changes in a moment; electrically charged, awesome and exciting years of life shrink to moments - just to realize that all that fascinating reality had been a dream. Perhaps all that had happened previously had been a continuous sequence of beautiful images that one would admire and fall in love with, and to realize that it’s all the game of dreams, illusions and Maya. The reality also strikes, at the same moment, that everything one would still experience in the future, would see with one’s eyes and feel with one’s hands, up to the moment of one’s death — that everything is not going to be any different in substance, or any different in kind. Why would it be? It’s always all a game, all foam and all dreams. It’s Maya, the whole lovely and frightful, delicious and desperate kaleidoscope of life with its searing delights, intertwined with its searing sorrows, the amazing show that has been ongoing since the dawn of Universe.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Metamorphosis is an immanent component and one of the most profound processes of life, IMHO. We constantly transform into better versions of ourselves, gracefully like a Caterpillar into a beautiful Butterfly. Metamorphosis continues throughout our journey of life, and extends from one generation to next generations. There is an element of elegance and beauty in the fact that we all evolve continuously, and metamorphosize metaphorically, into better and more beautiful versions of ourselves; just like fascinating Butterflies with Earth as our Chrysalis.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Life can be full of so many unexpected twists and turns that you'll never find in any Hollywood movie plots or Broadway plays. No wonder! After all, those movies and plays are written by professional story writers, while your life story is written by Supreme Power, and neither Hollywood scriptwriters nor Broadway playwrights can ever match Her creativity.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

After the extended period of heat and dry weather, comes the first rain shower of the season creating an exquisite eloquent fragrance in the air - an earthy sweet smell that permeates and floats all around us, refreshing and rejuvenating our lives. I love that powerful seductive scent - emanating from the long awaited sensual union of soft and gentle rain drops with dry and thirsty waiting ground, instantaneously instigating an intense intimacy in the air. This elegant enchanting fragrance is called "Petrichor"; a composite word from Greek language, where "Petra" means ‘the stone’, and "Ichor" means 'the fluid that flows in the veins of the Gods' per Greek Mythology. In my view, Petrichor is the most elegant and divine perfume that must be a gift from Supreme Power to us. If my life were a perfume, I would surely like her to smell like Petrichor, that exquisite earthy fragrance after the first rain.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

We often hear that nothing is certain in this world, except Death and Taxes. This line is so old, because it was written more than two centuries ago by Benjamin Franklin, in his letter (dated November 13, 1789) to fellow Scientist friend Jean-Baptiste Leroy. Benjamin Franklin wrote in French: “….dans ce monde, il n’y a rien d’assure que la mort et les impôts.” This can be translated as “….in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” It's really amazing that this statement by Benjamin Franklin is still valid, very well-accepted and so well-utilized even today, more than 225 years later. - Deo.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

If someone has stolen your idea or taken undue credit for your work, don't let it upset you. Learn from that experience and move on as swiftly as you can. Life is too short to dwell in the past, and fall in the trap of self-pity and misery. In my experience, those who steal the credit and ideas of others shamelessly, often don't realize that they are actually increasing their bad "Karma" by their wrongdoings, and that bad Karma quickly catches up with them in no time. Be assured! Time takes care in sweet and mysterious ways - always! Never forget that nobody will ever be able to steal or take away your creativity, ingenuity, and inventive mind, even though they may have stolen your one idea at one time only. Your divine spark of intelligence will continue to illuminate the world, even after losing that one idea - because surely there's plenty more where that came from!

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

No matter how old you are, there are certain moments in life when you need your father's hand and your mother's lap to comfort you, to give you the strength to fight and win against the odds. And no matter how old you become, or wherever you may be in this world, you'll realize that your father's hand and your mother's lap will always be there to comfort you and protect you throughout your life. No science or logic can explain this, for these are the matters of love and faith that defy all norms.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Good leaders always understand that Leadership is neither a recognition award nor a license to execute power, but it's a great responsibility to bring out the best in others while meeting their organizational goals.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Many events in life can be likened with ever-receding mirages that always deceive the traveller in the desert. We sometimes run after alluring attractive dreams in the hope of reaching them, but to no avail. At some stage, we discover that all those were only our delusions....the dreams, the people and the promises that we ran after were not really what we thought them to be. At that juncture, it's best to move on with life, and not to think of those failed dreams, deceptive people, and broken promises. In my view, recognizing the delusional mirages in right time is most important for the traveller - because it's the first step in the direction of clear path, which can often lead to the Oasis, the ultimate Success. Life is nothing but moving on! La Vie Continue!

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

No matter how others treat you, always be nice to people who touch your life. The only words you will regret later in life, besides the ones you had left unspoken, will be the words that you intentionally used to hurt others. Time and Words never come back, so use them carefully, always treating people with dignity and respect.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

Often in life, you have to work on both fronts, dealing objectively with diametrically opposite premises, and then arriving at the best solution. The open mindedness enables you to be a realist who is also an optimist at heart. Strange as it may seem, you hope for the best, and also expect the worst at the same time. You operate in the real world with best positive attitude, while understanding fully well what is practically possible in a given situation. This synergistic combination of realistic optimism ( or optimistic realism) can help you to deal with problems in an effective and positive manner, in my view, especially during the challenging phases in life.

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

As the responsible parents, we need to teach our daughters to distinguish carefully the subtle differences between the actions by men. We should teach our daughters to recognize the difference between - a man who flatters her and a man who complements her, a man who spends money on her and a man who invests in her, a man who views her as his property and a man who views her properly, a man who lusts after her and a man who loves her, and finally, a man who thinks he is a gift to women and a man who believes she is a gift to him. Then we must teach our sons to be that real man who respects women and treats them with dignity and equality - always!

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate

When I was growing up in a small village in India, the fairy-tales and children's stories led me to believe that villains and bad guys look like monsters, and they are really very rude and crude in their behavior. The movies during my generation also strengthened that perseption. As I grew up and travelled around the world, I soon realized the reality that the bad guys and villains are often good looking, well-behaved, silky smooth, sharp and smart...often too smart to gain your complete confidence before their brutal betrayal and them deceitfully back-stabbing you when you least expect it. We all discover this harsh reality hard way, after getting entangled at least once in their tantalizing tangled web of deception, that appearances can often be deceptive, and too good to be true - always! And yet, not all the times but only occasionally, the dreamer and optimist inside us likes to believe those fairy-tales and the happy-ending movies from childhood....

Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate